


Trinity’s Tale

by JaKedeSnaKe



Series: Life in the Perseus Arm [8]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Cute, Feral Gems (Steven Universe), Future Fic, Gem Egg Hell, Gemlings, Gen, basically its just a fic set in a speculative Steven Universe timeline, no main characters from the show as main characters in the fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2020-11-22 09:36:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20872064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaKedeSnaKe/pseuds/JaKedeSnaKe
Summary: A young jasper gemling who was siezed from her mother by poachers, but thankfully retrieved and taken to a strange new place: a gemling rescue center. There she is supposed to be rehabilitated and sent back into the wild. Instead she bonds with a human woman: Samantha, the most loving of the center’s caretakers.





	1. Our Newest Member

**Author's Note:**

> Mind you gemlings in my AU mature a lot slower than humans do. A gemling will still technically be a baby until they’re around 20 years of age.

“This is Samantha Goodman reporting a new rescue retrieved on September 7, 2239 C.E,” I said while speaking into the small blue recording card attached to a lanyard around my neck. I picked up a piece of paper that sat next to a kennel, which had little squeaks emitting from inside. Peering down at the paper held between my hands, I began to read aloud:

“Rescue specimen: a Stage 2 jasper cub; estimated age at around 6 years old.”

“Location of retrieval: poacher outpost in Pojun Territory, planet Gleise 862c.”

“Condition: no discernible illnesses. No initial sign of any physical or mental hindrances. Overall - frightened, but seemingly stable.” Pausing my reading, I went over and peered into the kennel that sat on top of a lab table.

I peered into a Plexiglass screen on one of the sides of the collapsable hard plastic cage the jasper was transported in, which resembled a sort of dog kennel.

In the dark back corner of the cage was the jasper gemling, her back arched in a defensive stance, long hair spiked in fear, and beady black eyes opened wide. Poor thing, she hadn’t stopped peeping in distress since she was brought in by the retrieval team. She must’ve been so confused, first having been seized from her mother, then taken to a poachers’ outpost, and now having been rescued and delivered here. The cub’s tiny paws and tiny mouth clawed and nibbled at the confinements of her cage, seeking any possible way out. 

I stared on empathetically, transfixed by the scared little creature harbored in the kennel. Looking down at the jasper’s info sheet, I noticed that a few areas were left blank. I turned once more to face the frightened cub, thinking. 

“Alright, just gotta finish these up here and you’ll be all set, little one,” I announced to the gemling.

Reaching over to a drawer I pulled out some thermal kevlar gloves. After putting them on I went over to a cold storage crate, dotted with screens that displayed internal temperature and the quantity of what was in there. Opening it up I descended upon several dozen frozen vials filled with pure gem breastmilk.

“Let’s see, Jacinth, Jade - aha! Jasper!” I proclaimed, retrieving a vile of jasper milk. Rushing over to a microwave, I placed the vial inside. Once the vial had warmed to an extent I grabbed it and poured its contents into a baby bottle filled with a supplement of mineral powder. I also splattered a bit of the gem breastmilk upon my gloves and rubbed my hands together, in order to get its scent printed onto them. While it wasn’t milk from the gemling’s mother, it was from the same gem type, which would suffice.

Quietly I walked over to the still-peeping kennel. “O.K, I’m going to have to take you out of there now,” I calmly said to the jasper baby, fully aware that she understood nothing I said.

I put in a code on a touchpad on the side of the kennel, causing the kennel’s holographic gate to wither away. The little gemling took notice and suddenly began to make an earnest effort to crawl towards the possible escape. She almost made it before I gingerly stuck my hand holding the milk bottle into the kennel. The little cub jolted back and started peeping louder than before, absolutely petrified at the sudden intrusion of my giant hand.

The jasper’s peeps slowly got less and less loud once she smelled the scent of the jasper milk. Slowly her peeps died down until she only stared at the jasper-scented bottle with caution. Timidly she crawled forward, plopping herself down in front of the bottle’s nip. Lightly she placed her mouth on the nip and began suckling, and not before long she was nestled in front of the bottle, eagerly getting her fill. Soon she had fallen asleep, with high pitched snores and grunts coming from her.

Now that she was safely asleep I silently crept my hand into the kennel and grabbed hold of the jasper. Not awoken by the disturbance, she continued resting even as I laid her down onto the rescue center’s measuring device. The device possessed a single large scanner that surrounded a sky blue scale. Pressing a button caused the scanner to scan the gemling from the top, sides, and front. It then displayed a holographic reading of the baby’s measurements. 

“Weight: 2.5 pounds. Length: 7 inches long,” I noted, jotting down the displayed numbers.

Next I moved on to the cleaning station of the center. It consisted primarily of a glass box fitted with small scanning devices on the sides. 2239 C.E has a lot of scanners, if you haven’t noticed. I laid the gemling inside. She momentarily stirred at the feeling of cold glass, and I was worried that she would wake up and start freaking out. Fortunately she got accustomed to the sensation and calmed down. 

Breathing a sigh of relief I pressed a button. From several different directions rays of green lasers displayed themselves onto the gemlings. The medical lasers instantly annihilated any dirt, germs, and organic residue on the gemling’s skin. Once the scanning ceased I lifted up the jasper gemling.

The final step was next, arguably the most crucial step: naming our newest recruit. Sure, some of my other colleagues at our rescue center call this “unprofessional” and that it “adds needless emotional bondage between a gemling and it’s caretaker.” But screw it, as long as I’m helping out these babies in the long run, who cares?

Peering down at the snoozing gemling cradled in between my arms, I finally got a good look at her physical features. It was astounding how much she resembled a kitten, with her scrunched face, tiny feline physique, and chubby hands that imitated a kitten’s paws. 

On her body there were no apparent references to other gem species, so both of her parents must’ve been jaspers. Stripes, characteristic of all jaspers, crisscrossed her body. One particular pattern I noticed was on her stomach. It was three short stripes arranged so that they almost formed the sides of a triangle, yet stopped just sort of touching each other.

A sudden name idea popped into my head. I smiled. “I think I’ll call you . . . Trinity,” I stated quietly, not wishing to wake the snoring gemling.

After the short yet laborious process of recording, cleansing, and naming, I finally brought the center’s newest member to the main organ of the center - the nursery. 

The room was a relatively large room, about 50 feet by 50 feet, as it had to be to house 47 rescued gemlings of various species. Its walls were programmed to be sky blue and decorated with peaceful natural scenery, and the modifiable ceiling height was currently two feet short of scraping my head.

The nursery was decked out with all sorts of gemling-centric utilities and accessories. Squeaky toys and cybernetic mice toys were scattered across the floor. Cat playhouses were placed here and there. Tall cribs and expansive baby pens were constructed in certain areas that catered to smaller and tamer gemling species, while soft nests made of pillows and blankets were assembled for the more larger and rambunctious gemlings.

As it was currently 11 P.M most of the gemlings were asleep, however there were still specific gemlings that often went to sleep late. A certain Stage 3 carnelian who loved to stay up past her bedtime was happily chirping at me as I walked by her nest, in the process disturbing the three other sleeping carnelians in her nest. I moved my finger to my lips to make a “hushing” motion. She kept on adorably chirping however, likely in a bid to get treats. I grinned, making a mental note to get her to sleep once I finished nestling down our newest arrival.

Stepping over toys, beside cribs, and around nests with sleeping gemlings, I finally found my way over to the jaspers’ area. They were one of the most trafficked in the gemling trade and thus one of the most numerous in my rescue center. Eleven different jaspers babies - ranging from 4 to 18 years old - were curled in a large pile on chewed on pillows and dirtied blankets. Another four were tiny weak Stage 1 gemlings and slept in a crib nearby for their safety. 

Patting down a spot on a pillow, I crouched down and placed Trinity near the nest’s edge. I gushed big-time as I watched the gemlings sleep. Somehow whatever they did was adorable, even rudimentary tasks such as sleeping. To prove my point, a jasper in the nest pile named Cheeto twitched her foot and turned towards me. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. Seeing me, she indifferently yawned and closed her eyes, soon falling back asleep. 

I had to restrain myself from squealing. Calming myself down, I thought about how Trinity would be around her new sisters. I was worried that since she was a newcomer the other jaspers would treat her harshly, maybe by stealing food from her or sitting on her. Well, I could only wait until morning.

In the meantime, I had a carnelian to attend to.


	2. Feeding Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trinity gets fed by Samantha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from Trinity’s POV. I’ll be flip-flopping back and forth between Trinity’s and Samantha’s POVs.

Groggily I opened my eyes. Looking around me I peeped in surprise. I expected myself to still be stuck in that tiny scary “cave” that those . . . things moved me around in. Instead I laid on some sort of soft material, kind of like my nest back at home with Mama.

Mama.

The name rang through my head. I only had one, as my other Mama died protecting me from predators. My remaining Mama was a great mother. She wasn’t as large as other jaspers, but her huge mane practically dwarfed her, and she and I would use it often as a blanket. She had a wonderful scent, and always snuggled up with me on cold nights and comforted me when I got scared during thunderstorms. 

Even though it probably happened only several moons ago it still feels like forever since she too was shattered and I was taken by those things and put into those tiny caves. Those things (which I later learned were called “humans”) looked at me through the cave (I’d learn to call a “kennel”) with greedy eyes. They barely fed me, and the funny-tasting gruel they did give me tasted terrible, nothing like whatever food Mama scrounged up for me. One of those things even slapped me when I bit its hand after it tried moving me into another cave.

Then another group of things came, who fought the other things and defeated them. They brought me - still in my cave - to another strange place, which to its credit was much more brighter and less dingier than then last one. Still I was terrified over my situation, and wouldn’t stop squealing for any form of help to free me from my prison.

I was placated a bit when of those things kept trying to communicate with me inside the cave in a soothing voice, although I couldn’t comprehend her weird calls at all. She fed me milk that smelled and tasted a lot like my mother’s. I guess I fell asleep afterwards.

Now I laid in this strange soft bedding, surrounded by other jasper gemlings like me. I felt a little frightened. I had never seen so many different gemlings in one place, and their various scents conflicted with each other to create a pungent soup of smells. Plus, the expansive room made me feel exposed and vulnerable, especially now that I didn’t have Mama to protect me.

“Well, at least this nest is soft and not at all hard like that scary cave,” I thought, reassuring myself.

For a moment I was the only one in the pile currently awake. Suddenly a chime sounded from one end of the room. The eleven or so other jaspers sleeping alongside me suddenly jolted awake at the sound, earning another scared squeak from me. Some leaped off the pillows while others frantically scurried from their blankets towards the sound. The stage 2 and 3 jaspers joined other stage 2 and 3 gemlings, all racing towards the ringing.

Not understanding all the commotion, I frantically buried myself underneath the pillows and blankets of the nest, with only my tiny orange head peeking out. 

I peered over to where a conglomeration of gemlings had clamored around two of the humans. By that time I learned that humans weren’t some sort of monster, but rather I had assumed that humans were a type of gemless gem. My growing understanding of humanity still didn’t do a whole lot to damper my fears of them.

One of the humans was suspending a musical metal triangle high off the ground. “Breakfast time!” the triangle-toting human cheerfully announced. Another human - a woman, which I discovered was a type of human - was struggling to carry a large bag filled with some sort of food. Teetering from side to side she finally gave way and fell along with her cargo, spilling its hard, pebble-like food onto the floor

The gemlings eagerly scampered over to eat. The largest and most powerful gems, such as jaspers, onyxes, and topazes, got to eat first by shoving everybody else away. Some tiny rubies also managed to get the first bites, their feisty character more than making up for their size. The smallest and weakest gems, like sapphires and peridots, managed to eat what scraps were left over. Quickly some humans came and shooed away the gemlings and started cleaning up their mess. 

From my hiding nook I also saw some other humans approach what looked like white nests elevated high up in the sky, which I’d later find out were called “cribs.” In their hands were clear cylindrical containers with a nipple-like thing at one end, filled with what I smelled to be various types of gem milk. The humans carefully picked up and fed gemlings that still subsisted only on liquids, namely tiny stage 1 gemlings and runts.

I was confused. “Didn’t milk come from Mama’s body?” I thought. “So then how did it get into those little things? Where were the other gemlings’ mothers to breastfeed them, or hunt them their food?”

Before I could continue wondering, a hefty woman giving milk to a lapis lazuli suddenly noticed me. “Oh! There you are little recruit! I just knew we were missing a jasper when the others came for feeding time!” she remarked. The human stepped into my nest’s vicinity and put her hands on her hips in an amused manner.

I whimpered and buried myself deeper into the blankets. The human took notice of my fright and crouched down to my level. 

“Hey now, no need to be afraid, I don’t want to hurt you. It’s feeding time after all, and I’m supposed to feed you,” the human comforted. She reached into what I imagined was a flap of skin on her side (I had never seen a pant pocket before, let alone pants) and pulled out a little baggie. She shook it, trying to signify that there was food inside it. She didn’t know that I already smelled what was inside.

I was still apprehensive of venturing out of the safety of the blanket nest, but now not so much. I guess that had something to do with the fact that this human woman kinda looked like Mama. She was big and brawny, and had strikingly red hair. Her face was large and puffy, possessed large warm eyes, and had a wide grin. She didn’t look like any immediate cause for alarm.

Suddenly I got a big whiff of her scent, and then I realized. “This was the same human that fed me the jasper milk!” I thought, musing over how good the milk tasted. 

Realizing who this human was, I let my guard down a bit. Cautiously I crept out of the nest of blankets and pillows and crawled towards her. All the while the human kept beckoning me with her kind eyes and warm smile.

She reached into the bag and pulled out a few pieces of the food. They were shaped like bones, but were brown instead of white. They reminded me of the delicious bone marrow Mama gave to me whenever she got a kill for us to eat, so I picked up my crawling pace at the sight.

When I finally came close enough the woman placed the treat down on the floor in front of me. I bent down and took in a whiff of the treat. “Huh, this doesn’t smell like bone,” I pondered, perplexed. Taking a tiny bite of the treat, I immediately spat it out in disgust.

“Aww, do you not like it?” The human asked, picking up the nibbled-on treat. “That’s ok, I can find you something else.”

“Hmm, well, you’re new here, so your body probably isn’t adjusted to manufactured treats yet,” the red woman thought aloud. Not yet comprehending human speech, I sat gazing up at the human, fascinated by her strange calls.

“And you’re a jasper, and stage 2 jaspers in the wild usually eat soft and mushy meat. Hold on a minute,” the human requested, “I’ll be right back.”

The red woman began walking away. “Hey! Where are you going?” I demanded, my question coming out as a series of chirps. She returned after a short visit to some sort of tall white box, a bowl filled with ground up beef held in her hands.

I began chirping excitedly at the sight and smell of the delicious crimson meat. As soon as she placed the bowl down in front of me I began wolfing down the meat. I heard the red woman mutter little squeals as she watched me eat, although I was too busy gorging myself to really pay attention.

After I had my fill I crawled back to the nest, which now was filled once more by the other now fed jasper gemlings. I found my previous spot now being occupied by another jasper. She was larger than me, and larger than the other jaspers for that matter, so I was a little nervous scaling the nest up to her. I attempted to carefully nudge her out of the way, but unfortunately that caused her to wake up. 

The gemling’s beady black baggy eyes conveyed no remorse when she kicked me off the nest. In a rage only brought upon by waking a gemling during its vital sleeping time she clawed at my arm, leaving a small scratch. In the ensuing tussle she pinned me down and proceeded to bite at my hair, all the while I squealed in terror.

Thankfully a large hand pried the enraged gemling away from me, shoving it back into the nest. I laid in a fetal position sobbing when the other big hand picked me up.

“NO BECCA! You don’t bite newcomers!” The red woman reprimanded. Becca shrieked her disapproval, waking the other jaspers up. The other groggy gemlings proceeded to pounce on Becca in retaliation, the action eventually evolving into a sleepy roughhouse. Eventually they all tired themselves out and fell asleep on top of each other. All in the span of roughly twelve seconds.

The red human looked down at me. I was still sniffling and whimpering, and refused to open my eyes. “You poor thing. Here, I’ll take you to the medical bay, get that little scratch all treated. Don’t worry, the other jaspers will accept you soon, you’ll just have to not disturb the alpha of the bunch next time,” she comforted. Her consoling tone convinced me to open my eyes a bit.

I still couldn’t decode any of her strange calls. But I didn’t care. While she cradled me in her arms, her warm body heat being absorbed my mine, I could tell that this strange gemless gem was one of the good ones. 

I stared up at her expressing happy chirrs as she took me away from the other rowdy jaspers. “This could be my new Mama,” I thought, and I was fine with it.


	3. Checkup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samantha takes Trinity to the medical bay, and gets a reality check.

Samantha’s POV

Trinity refused to quit her chirping as I carried her over to the medical bay. She seemed to like my attention, as whenever I looked away from her for too long she would nip at my sweater and chirp louder until my gaze was turned to hers. Only then would she quiet down. 

*Chuckle,* “When did you become so fussy?” I teased, proceeding to tap the pup’s nose with my pinky. Trinity squealed in delight, and tried to seize the harassing finger with her needlelike teeth, but missed. My heart seemed to burst with love at the adorable sight.

I smiled lovingly as we entered the medical room. Jane, the center’s chief gemling veterinarian, was busy filing through health reports on a holographic screen. I could tell that she seemed stressed as she scrupulously moved back and forth between a data-congested holographic screen and nearby holographic projections of gemling diagrams.

“Heeeeyyyy Jane,” I said, trying to be amicable. “I’ve got with me our newest jasper, and let’s just say she had a *little* run-in with the jasper alpha. Could you give this little scratch a little checkup?”

Jane sighed. “Not now Samantha, I am incredibly busy. And I know you - I’m sure that the wound isn’t that serious.” she stated, not turning from the projection.

“You don’t know that! . . . Could you please just give her a look? It’ll take, like, twenty seconds,” I pleaded.

The old woman turned towards me with an apathetic expression. “Fine, fine, I will give her a look,” she yielded. A quick and meticulous swipe of her hand caused the holographic screen to fade away, along with the projections.

As she approached Trinity and I the little gemling began to squirm in my hands, obviously scared of this new human. I turned her to face me. 

“Don’t worry, she just wants to help you get all better. You’ll be back in the nursery before you know it.” Trinity mewed, the little cub just appreciating my eyes and the sound of my voice.

Carefully I handed her over to Jane, who swiftly took her. Trinity began feebly mewling and writhing as she realized that a new human possessed a grasp on her. 

“Hold still, hold still,” Jane reprimanded, placing Trinity into a glass case fitted with scanners. Trinity frightfully peeped in response. The maternal part of me I thought had disappeared long ago wanted to retrieve Trinity from her glass cell and hold her close to me, but I suppressed that emotion. This was going to help her, I reassured myself.

The orange gemling was still clawing at the glass case when the scanners activated. They started at the top of each side of the case and moved their way downwards. Trinity stopped her crying and stared transfixed at the blue lasers, partly amazed and partly terrified. When the scanners reached the bottom they faded into obscurity. A calm female voice read out a diagnosis.

“NOTICEABLE PHYSICAL INJURIES: SHALLOW, MINOR SCRATCH ON THE RIGHT ARM.   
DIAGNOSIS: LEAVE IT TO HEAL NATURALLY.”

Jane eyed me with annoyance. “See? She is fine, it is just a minor scratch that’ll heal on its own.”

“A-are you sure there’s nothing we can do? It-it doesn’t look that good,” I asked.

“No, she is fine,” Jane responded. The old woman briskly walked over the Trinity, still in the case. Reaching down to pick her up, the gemling growled and bit her finger. Quickly Jane retracted her hand, and noticed that the bite drew blood.

“Crap!” Jane exclaimed, looking at the blood. “You pick her up,” Jane ordered crossly, reaching over to a drawer to grab a bandage.

“Sorry!” I apologized. “Jaspers can be a bit . . . nippy, y’know?”

Trinity began mewing in delight when she noticed that I was coming over to her. She scrambled into my hands, purring furiously while I drew her to my chest.

I began to leave the medical room when I heard Jane speak.

“Samantha, wait.”

I turned around, half dreading a lecture, half hoping for a renewed diagnosis. It was the former.

Jane sighed. “Look, Samantha, I know you really care for these gemlings, but you cannot fret over every little injury. Just last week you barged in here with a peridot after you heard it cough only ONCE.”

“Hey, once you performed a checkup on her you DID find out that she had a cold!” I countered.

“A minor one! One that could have easily been fought off on her own!” she retorted, reminding me.

Jane grew more frustrated. “Samantha, I get it: you adore these gemlings. But you cannot get imprinted onto these babies, and you REALLY cannot let the gemlings get imprinted onto you.”

“Trinity isn’t imprinted on me!” I argued, which was hard to say while Trinity rubbed her head onto my chest.

Jane held an unbelieving expression. “Samantha, raising these gemlings literally takes a lifetime. Every caretaker has to do their part for their assigned gemling development stage. For us, our only job is to make sure our gemlings are fed, cleaned, well-cared for, and stimulated physically and mentally. Afterwards they move on to the next facility for the next development stages. You’ve been here a year know, you should be well aware of this.”

Jane looked towards at Trinity, the gemling watching her with a slightly scared interest. “Look at her, Samantha. She cannot move on if she grows attached to you. How would you expect her to be rehabilitated and reintroduced to the wild?”

Trinity squirmed in my arms, eager to get back to the nursery and away from this scary-sounding human.

“I, I get what you’re trying to say here, Jane, but . . . “ I said, my voice trailing off into nothingness.

I humphed. “Alright, yeah, I’ll uh, I’ll be less of a hover-mother. Gotta . . . do my part for their care,” I said sorrowfully. 

“You do not have to be cold to them, Samantha. Just, try not to coddle them so much. These are not your babies,” she restated.

“I’m well aware of the tragedy that happened to you before you arrived at the center, and I’m sorry about it. But that gemling isn’t her, you know.”

Upon hearing the last part my eyes burned holes through her, and she knew it was unwise to continue her talk. Nonetheless I knew that her words were well-intentioned, and I chose not to stay mad at her. The rational part of my brain knew she was right.

“. . . Yeah. Thanks for the talk,” I said, still a little miffed. With that I turned and walked out of the medical bay, still feeling Jane’s perceptive gaze on my back. 

Trinity had resumed her loving chirps as we walked through hallways back to the nursery. Feeling guilty, I didn’t bring my gaze towards hers. Obviously upset with this, her calls grew more saddened and pleading. When we finally reached the jaspers’ pen she was adamant against leaving my arms, shrieking and squirming as I lowered her inside. 

Once set down on the floor she crawled up to the gate and peeped at me. I wanted nothing more than to lift her up and hold her, a part deep within me yearning for the feeling that had been ripped from me two years ago. Instead I nudged a squeaky toy towards her and left.

After that I walked out of the nursery, Trinity’s shrill squeaks following me all the way.

If only my Marcie was still with me.


	4. Outside Foray

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I last updated this fic in October of 2019, and started this chapter back in January before I kinda abandoned it. So this chapter doesn’t really have a concrete ending, but I already wrote it and I decided to go ahead and post it anyways.
> 
> Will I ever come back to this fic? Probably not. At least until I finish my other one I’m working on.

Trinity’s POV

My new mama wasn’t being nearly as friendly to me as she used to be. Every now and then I would see her pass by me in my pen and I’d squeak for her to hold me, but she never looked at me. Somebody else fed me now, and he wasn’t nearly as loving as my new mama was.

The other jasper cubs were starting to be kinder to me once they got used to me, which was good. Everyone except the alpha, Becca, has tried playing with me and sharing their food, but whenever they tried Becca would intervene and steal my food or my toys. 

However, that would soon change.

The day began like any other. I woke up at the sound of the breakfast chime, still forced to sleep at the edge of the jaspers’ nest of pillows and blankets. Now knowing what the sound meant, I eagerly climbed off the nest and crawled with the other jaspers to the humans. 

Lined in front of all the other gemlings were plastic food bowls filled with kibble. My mouth watered at the sight, now having gotten used to the taste of kibble as well as doggy treats. 

I began crawling towards a bowl when Becca moved in front of me. She growled and assumed a defensive stance, wanting the kibble all to herself. I yelped and quickly inched away from Becca, remembering the slowly healing scratch she gave me when I first arrived. Satisfied, Becca turned away and began chowing down on the food bowl.

Hungry, I scanned the room looking for any unoccupied food bowls. Every one seemed to be in use. I saw a tiny trio of rubies using one food bowl, while I saw a malachite eating from a giant plastic bowl filled with kibble. 

After a couple minutes the other gemlings had eaten their full and retired back to their pens, happily scampering and crawling with full bellies. I had to resort to eating the scraps of kibble the other pups had neglected.

When I went back to the pen - still hungry - I found my dismal spot at the perimeter of the jasper nest consumed by a sprawled-out jasper cub. Thankfully a tiny pillow laid nearby not in use, and I crawled atop. Kneading down an impression for me to rest in, I was ready to drift off to sleep. But Becca must’ve seen me in my moment of respite, as she pounced on me and started tussling with me. Fortunately a human managed to pry her off of me and imprison her in a separate pen for a time-out. I was still a blubbering mess however, and I spent the rest of the morning curled up on the pillow, crying especially hard since my self-designated Mama was nowhere nearby to console me.

After lunchtime - and I didn’t get to eat without Becca bullying me again - the humans took us outside of the nursery, to what was called the “backyard.” It was a wide space, enclosed by a holographic fence. It was dotted with short trees, shrubs, flowers, and mats of straw. Our rehabilitation center was on Earth, so the flora there was made of Earth plants like birch, oak, and hibiscus shrubs. The backyard was often teeming with insects, which us gemlings would regularly terrorize. There were also tires, balls, chew toys, and dog rope toys. The whole expanse was designed to physically stimulate gemlings, and gemlings above stage 1 were released there to play and be active every other day.

At first I resisted a human’s attempts in carrying me out to the backyard when I realized my new-Mama wasn’t coming out as well. Despite new-Mama refusing to be around me much, I would sometimes catch glimpses of her doing work around the nursery. Seeing her would bring me momentary respite in my frightening and confusing adjustment to life in the rehabilitation center. Wherever new-Mama was, I wanted to be at least nearby. However, this human wasn’t having any of my fuss and took me outside with the other jaspers. 

That afternoon a couple of the pearl chicks managed to surround a beetle skittling across the ground. They sat observing it with starry eyes, fascinated and completely fixated on the creature. Nowhere near as interested in observing, some fellow jasper cubs, Becca, and I pushed the pearls aside and began tormenting the beetle. We took turns patting the terrified insect and trying to cover it with our paws.

The pearl gemlings were horrified and let out chirps begging for us to stop. A pearl pup thats skin was decorated with sky blue markings charged into me while I had the beetle’s antenna in my mouth. Despite being smaller than me she managed to knock me down, causing the beetle to be flung out of my mouth and land near the fence.

The other jaspers scampered after the beetle, not ready to let their toy get lost. Fortunately for the beetle there was a small, barely perceptible hole glitched through the holographic fence, and the little bug spread its wings and flew out towards freedom. 

The cubs looked at the hole, curious as to what laid beyond. They let out mews, calling out to see if there were any other gemlings beyond the fence.

Jaspers are known for their brash and foolhardy nature, and the jasper gemlings and I weren’t any different. We eagerly rushed beyond the confinements of the backyard, with Becca leading the rowdy pack. Becca, despite her status as the alpha, was still a young gemling and was highly vulnerable to any threats. But she was the alpha and she wanted to assert her dominance, so she had to be the first gemling to venture forth. 

The pearl chicks watched tentatively as we scurried imto this strange new world, although it wasn’t that different from the backyard. Just like in the backyard there were trees and bushes and grass and flowers, but for us the newness of the area and the possibility of it becoming a new play place gave us adventurous excitement. 

We did end up having fun for a brief period of time. Some of the jaspers frolicked with each other in the tall grass, while others pinned down flowers to gnaw on. Meanwhile I busied myself watching butterflies flutter among the tops of the bushes, starry-eyed.

Suddenly all of our ears perked up, hearing a rustle in the bushes. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a sliver of orange slip out of my view. Turning towards the spot I let out a scared squeak that was meant to sound more intimidating.

Everyone else was scared too. Our backs curled, manes flared, and letting off high-pitched growls, the jaspers and I corralled ourselves into a defensive huddle, with Becca being the vanguard. We took turns darting frightened glances into the forest, straining for any sight of orange. For all we knew it could’ve been an adult feral jasper - and inherent genetic knowledge told us that solitary adult gems could very well be not averse to killing us for food.

Out of the greenery the orange blur finally pronounced itself. Our terrified trembling and shaky squeaking only got more pronounced as we saw what it was. Or, rather, not knowing what it was.

None of us had ever seen a fox before, let alone a canid. We were all alien beings after all, each of us having been born on different planets far off into the cosmos. Seeing this rusty-colored, fur-covered, pointy-eared, bushy-tailed, long-nosed thing drove us mad with frightful speculation as to what it was.

The fox seemed to share a bit of our speculation. It paced around us with an attentive gaze, trying to determine whether we were something to run from or something to pursue. Its ears flinched whenever our high-pitched peeps got too much for them to bear, and its wispy tail avoided straying near the mass of gemlings it circled.

We were all shaking like tiny leaves, but Becca wasn’t as much. Being the oldest, strongest, and boldest out of the jaspers at the rehabilitation center have given her confidence in facing tasks ranging from taking toys from other gemlings to asserting dominance over potential rivals for the status of “alpha.” Still, it was evident even she was a little scared, her wavering growls being broken by scared peeps aimed at scaring this beast away. But it was possible that she wasn’t scared enough.

The fox circled closer and closer to until she was nose-to-nose with a quivering Becca. It sniffed her a couple times, obviously not taking Becca’s warning growls seriously.

In an act of temerity - and possibly fear - Becca suddenly chomped down on the fox’s black nose, her needlelike teeth sinking in deep.

She didn’t stand a chance. 

A surprised yelp came out of the fox. Quick as lightning the fox lashed its head with whiplike ferocity, causing Becca to be flung off. The tangerine gemling crashed into the tall grass with a sickening thud, a shrill cry of pain following landfall.

The fox darted after the cub as the other jaspers and I watched on in horror. Although we could only just see over the tall grass, we saw enough to know what the fox did to Becca.

We saw the beast swing its paw down in the grass.

And saw it slam its head down with a jerk.

And saw a puff of sparkling dust.

The fox jumped away from the enveloping cloud of mineral dust and scuttled away from the scene.

Us jaspers waited a good while before any of us dared to go over to see what remained of Becca. An older gemling timidly crept forward, tempting the other gemlings and I to follow soon behind.

It took only a couple sweeps through the tall grass before we finally found Becca’s gemstone, resting pitifully on the dirt. Slowly we surrounded the gemstone, gazing on with somber eyes. A couple of us chirped sadly, pawing at her gemstone, hoping that she’ll be O.K.

~

An iconic trait that gemkind has is the ability to reform from attacks that would be lethal to man, as long as the gemstone wasn’t destroyed from it. But the characteristic isn’t automatic knowledge. A human baby isn’t born knowing how to crawl or walk or swim - they have to learn it. The same applies to gemlings on many similar features - and certainly when it comes to reforming. Gemlings learn the basics of reforming during stage 3, which Becca was thankfully in. But even in that stage the chances of a gemling always reforming from getting poofed are uncertain, due to their novice understanding of the concept.

~

Our solemn circling of Becca’s gemstone was interrupted by shouting. Some of the human caretakers finally noticed the rift in the holographic fence and raced to fix it. Swiftly some humans came running along to us and tried to carry us away. We were all adamant against this, refusing to leave the grassy field that we thought was either Becca’s point of regeneration or her tomb.

Fortunately the humans noticed Becca’s minuscule gemstone making itself apparent in the grass. With a mixture of horror, grief, and pity a human bent down and picked the gemstone up between his fingers and began skulking away. The jaspers and I began peeping wildly, angered and scared that this human took Becca away from us to do who-knows-what with her. Some other humans came along and began returning us back to the center. We were a bit pacified by this action, as we could see that we were going wherever Becca was going.

——

It took three weeks. Three harrowing weeks of not knowing where Becca was. Older jaspers knew what she was doing and weren’t as concerned about her whereabouts. But younger cubs like me had _no_ idea what she was doing in her gemstone, and we were very scared. I guess I wasn’t as scared as the other younger gemlings, due to how terrible Becca treated me. But still, she _was_ the alpha, so naturally I had a bit of respect for her and worried about her condition.

During her time spent in her gemstone the humans had her resting on a pillow in the jasper pen. Us jaspers were extra careful not to accidentally damage her gemstone and the older cubs would often spend long periods of time peering at her gem, waiting anxiously for her regeneration. Us younger gems would watch also, not understanding what we were waiting for but nonetheless desired to imitate the older gemlings.

Finally the day came. During a scuffle between some jaspers over who was the rightful owner of a squeaky toy, a brilliant light began shining from the case. The fighting instantly ceased and we all surrounded the case, eagerly waiting for Becca’s arrival. Her petite gemstone fluttered into the air, stopping to become suspended six inches above the pillow. A tiny mannequin-esque body spread out from her gemstone, soon assuming Becca’s size and shape. The mannequin became more detailed, until finally Becca was back to her full self and collapsed onto the pillow.

The younger pups were overjoyed to see Becca again and made a mad dash to surround her with affection. But something was wrong. Rather than usually embracing praise Becca frantically shirked away from her kin into the corner of the pen, shaking like a leaf. Some of the older cubs crept close to her and chirped at her for a response, but she only replied with terrified wails.

None of us - not even the older cubs - knew what trauma was. Sure, as victims of the gemling trade we’ve all been through horrible experiences, but we were never poofed and didn’t fully understand what we went through. Becca, on the other hand, did get poofed and her basic primal instinct told her that the fox was trying to kill her.

I didn’t have to fear her anymore. But I never hoped it would be like _this_.


End file.
